A tragic incident occurred on Saturday, December 14, when a boat carrying migrants overturned near Greece’s southern island of Gavdos.
As per Reuters, at least five migrants drowned and many others are still missing as search efforts continue.
Thirty-nine men, mostly from Pakistan, have been rescued by a cargo ship in the area and transferred to the island of Crete.
However, the exact number of missing people has not been confirmed yet.
Greek authorities were informed about the incident on Friday night.
Shortly after they receive the news, several search teams including coast guard boats, commercial ships, an Italian warship and military aircraft have been working to search for the missing individuals in the area.
In a separate incident on the same day, a Malta-flagged cargo ship saved 47 migrants from a boat around 40 nautical miles from Gavdos.
Based on preliminary details, coast guard officials think the boats started their journey together from Libya.
Over the past year, there has been a significant rise in incidents involving migrant boats and shipwrecks near Crete and its small neighbouring island, Gavdos.
The deadliest shipwreck recorded in 30 years of crossings to the islands occurred in 2009 off Lanzarote, claiming 25 lives.
